NFL Notebook, Week 15: Lamar Jackson, rebuild candidates, mock draft and more
By Zach Cohen
Eli Manning: Hall of Fame QB?
If you were watching the Dolphins-Giants game on Sunday, you would think it’s Eli Manning’s final game in a Giants’ uniform. While no official announcement has been made, Manning will likely call it quits after the season. This brings me to what should be a boiling topic in the not-so-distant future: Manning’s Hall of Fame case.
Give Him the Gold Jacket
- 2x Super Bowl MVP
- Over 50,000 passing yards (7th all-time)
- Over 300 passing touchdowns (7th all-time)
Is there anything else to say? Those stats seem to be enough support.
Sorry, Peyton Only
Those final two stats are inflated because Manning has also thrown the sixth-most passes in NFL history. If we’re really using stats, then maybe his 84.1 career completion percentage will do the trick. That’s worse than guys like Joe Flacco, David Garrard and Jay Cutler, even if it’s better than Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman.
Even so, Staubach and Aikman were among the best in a different era, while Manning was never among the best in any season he played. Hey, at least he led the NFL three times — in interceptions.
Verdict
If Manning made the Hall of Fame eventually, I wouldn’t complain. It’s a new era of football that features bloated passing stats, something that makes Manning’s career look better. Unfortunately for Manning, I can’t see him being a first-ballot Hall of Famer, especially as quarterbacks continue to break records (a la Drew Brees). If I had to pick a side, it would be to deny Manning of his gold jacket unless in the unlikely event that there are no better candidates.